HB 350: "An Act relating to Statehood Act land selection conveyances to boroughs and unified municipalities."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 350 01 "An Act relating to Statehood Act land selection conveyances to boroughs and 02 unified municipalities." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 29.60 is amended by adding new sections to read: 05 ARTICLE 9. STATEHOOD ACT LAND SELECTION CONVEYANCES. 06 Sec. 29.60.700. SELECTIONS OF STATE LAND. (a) A borough or unified 07 municipality may select 50,000 acres of land conveyed to the state under Sec. 6(b) of 08 the Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508, 72 Stat. 339). Selections shall be made before 09 January 1, 2010, and, unless the commissioner of natural resources finds it in the best 10 interest of the state to convey a smaller parcel, in parcels of 40 acres or larger. The 11 borough or unified municipality shall bear all costs of selection, platting, surveying, 12 and conveyance of land it selects and shall reimburse the Department of Natural 13 Resources for the reasonable costs incurred by that department relating to the selection, 14 platting, surveying, and conveyance. Land may be selected under this subsection only
01 if it is located within the boundaries of the municipality and, on the date of its 02 selection by the municipality, it 03 (1) has not been 04 (A) conveyed by the state; 05 (B) reserved by law from the public domain; or 06 (C) selected under AS 29.65, unless the land selection is, at a 07 later date, rejected by the commissioner of natural resources or relinquished by 08 the municipality; 09 (2) is not 10 (A) land included in a five-year proposed oil and gas leasing 11 program under AS 38.05.180(b); 12 (B) land leased under, or for which a lease application is 13 pending under AS 38.05.180(d); 14 (C) subject to a possessory interest or encumbrance other than 15 a 16 (i) lease that is not an oil or gas lease; 17 (ii) timber contract; 18 (iii) mining claim, prospecting site, or prospecting 19 permit on tide or submerged land; 20 (iv) sale of materials under AS 38.05.110 - 38.05.120; 21 or 22 (v) land use permit or right-of-way issued by the 23 Department of Natural Resources under AS 38.05; 24 (D) necessary to carry out the purpose of an interagency land 25 management agreement; or 26 (E) subject to conveyance under a land exchange or land 27 settlement agreement. 28 (b) The commissioner of natural resources shall reject a selection of land made 29 under this section if the commissioner 30 (1) reasonably believes the land may be 31 (A) selected by a city under AS 29.65.030, but the
01 commissioner may not withhold under this subparagraph the conveyance of title 02 to the land for more than three years after the date of the city's incorporation; 03 (B) made part of an oil and gas exploration license issued under 04 AS 38.05.131 - 38.05.134, but the commissioner may not withhold under this 05 subparagraph the conveyance of title to the land for more than three years 06 unless it is made part of an exploration license; 07 (2) determines conveyance of the land is not in the best interest of the 08 state. 09 Sec. 29.60.710. SELECTED LAND. Notwithstanding other provisions of law, 10 on land selected under AS 29.60.700, but not yet conveyed by the state 11 (1) the state is authorized to enter into contracts and grant leases, 12 licenses, prospecting sites, claims, permits, rights-of-way, or easements, and any 13 interim conveyance or patent shall be subject to the contract, lease, license, prospecting 14 site, claim, permit, right-of-way, or easement, except that the authority granted the 15 state by this subsection 16 (A) is the authority that the state otherwise would have had 17 under existing laws and regulations had the surface estate of the land not been 18 selected; and 19 (B) may be exercised only if the selecting borough or unified 20 municipality has concurred before the action is taken by the state; 21 (2) 90 percent of the proceeds that are attributable to activity involving 22 the surface estate and are derived from contracts, leases, licenses, prospecting sites, 23 claims, permits, rights-of-way, easements, or trespasses, originating after the date of 24 selection, shall be held by the state until the land has been conveyed, and, upon 25 issuance of a document of conveyance, the state shall pay that amount to the borough 26 or unified municipality; 27 (3) responsibility for management of activities affecting the surface 28 estate arising out of the contracts, leases, licenses, prospecting sites, claims, permits, 29 rights-of-way, or easements vests with the borough or unified municipality upon 30 issuance of a document of conveyance. 31 Sec. 29.60.720. CONVEYANCE OF LAND. (a) In conveying land under
01 AS 29.60.700, the commissioner of natural resources shall give public notice under 02 AS 38.05.945(b) and (c) and provide for access under AS 38.05.127, but other 03 provisions of AS 38.04 and AS 38.05 do not apply. The borough or unified 04 municipality takes the land subject to any possessory interest held by another person 05 on the effective date of the conveyance and, except for oil, gas, or mineral leases, is 06 entitled to receive the consideration due under that interest for the duration of the 07 interest. 08 (b) In conveying land selected under AS 29.60.700, the state shall retain the 09 rights to oil, gas, and minerals. Land conveyed under AS 29.60.700 excludes any 10 interest transferred to the state by quitclaim deed dated June 30, 1959, under authority 11 of the Alaska Omnibus Act, P.L. 86-70, 73 Stat. 141. The conveyance is subject to 12 (1) Sec. 6(i) of the Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508, 72 Stat. 339); 13 (2) AS 19.10.010; 14 (3) the rights of the state under former 43 U.S.C. 932 (sec. 8, Act of 15 July 26, 1866, 14 Stat. 253). 16 Sec. 29.60.730. RIGHT TO REENTER. When the commissioner of natural 17 resources issues a document of conveyance for land selected under AS 29.60.700, the 18 commissioner shall retain the right to reenter the land and recover title to it as 19 provided in this section. The commissioner of natural resources shall reenter and 20 recover title if 21 (1) on the 10th anniversary of the execution of the conveyance, the 22 commissioner of natural resources finds that the borough or unified municipality is not 23 actively managing the land to provide income; however, if at any time during the 10-year period, litigation, including 24 any appeal, has prevented the municipality from 25 actively managing the land to provide income, the date on which the commissioner 26 shall make the finding required by this paragraph is extended by a period equal to the 27 period attributable to the litigation; for purposes of this paragraph, "actively managing 28 the land to provide income" means that the municipality is deriving revenue from the 29 land selection, or has in place a development program to derive income from the land 30 selection; or 31 (2) before January 1, 2010, the land is conveyed by the borough or
01 unified municipality or by another person to the United States; the reentry and 02 recovery of title under this paragraph terminates the title or ownership interest in all 03 land conveyed to the municipality under AS 29.60.700, and the municipality may not 04 thereafter make any other land selections under that section; this paragraph does not 05 apply to an acre-for-acre land exchange. 06 Sec. 29.60.740. GENERAL GRANT LAND SELECTIONS. Land conveyed 07 under AS 29.60.700 may not be considered in fulfilling the general grant land 08 entitlement of a municipality under AS 29.65.